“Mom, please stop screaming because I don’t want you to get shooted”

Video released of Philando Castile’s girlfriend and her 4-year-old daughter in patrol car

By
our reporter
22 June 2017

After last week’s acquittal of Jeronimo Yanez, the Minnesota police officer who shot and killed Philando Castile, additional material from the case has become publicly available. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension released a heartbreaking video from the inside of a patrol car in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of Castile.

The arrest of Diamond Reynolds, fiancé of Philando Castile

Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds and her 4-year-old daughter were placed in a patrol car for almost an hour after the shooting. Reynolds, who courageously livestreamed the immediate aftermath of the shooting on Facebook Live, was handcuffed and unable to hug her young daughter.

Reynold’s daughter tries to comfort her, saying, “Mom, please stop cussing and screaming because I don’t want you to get shooted.” Later, she tells her mother, “I could keep you safe.”

When Reynolds implies she could take off her handcuffs if she wanted, her daughter implores, “No please, no, I don’t want you to get shooted!”

Such is America, where a four-year old girl who just saw a man shot to death by police comforts her mother out of fear that she could be next.

“I wish this town was safer … I don’t want it to be like this anymore,” the little girl says. Her mother sadly says, “Tell that to the police, okay? Tell them you wish they didn’t have to kill people.”

Police dashcam footage of Philando Castile fatal shooting

Another video released on Tuesday shows the shooting of Castile from the point of view of the police dash-cam. After an initial, calm exchange, Castile informs the police officer that he has a weapon on him, as is standard procedure for someone who has a license to carry a firearm.

Yanez tells him not to reach for it, and as Castile and Reynolds both assert that he is not reaching for it, Yanez within seconds fires seven rounds into the car, killing Castile.